The simple answer to this question is, yes. Content is king. Content, or keywords and phraseology relative to the position you are submitting your resume for, is what improves your chances of getting through those electronic applicant tracking systems (ATS) to even be considered for a position. Your focus in creating a cover letter and resume should be centered around getting through ATS.

There is a very important secondary aspect of creating a resume that gets you to the interview phase, and that is formatting. We already discussed types of format and crafting your format to fit your target industry. Equally important is balancing your white space against all that great content. This is key once your documents have made it through ATS and the hiring manager is making their 60-second review of your resume.

Critical in balancing white space against content; don’t be wordy. This is a challenge for the best of us. We tend to want to include everything we have done in our career on our resume. As painful as it is, brevity and highlighting your accomplishments will win the day. No job descriptions, please. Brief statements of your achievements, with areas of white paper showing through, topped off with consistency in formatting throughout your resume, will help you pass the hiring managers’ average 60-secong review. Thus, getting you to the interview phase and allowing you to win your target position.